Failure at Her Expense
by Moonwhisper22
Summary: The first time a team under his command had been in this situation, they had been lucky enough to survive. But he had failed again, at her expense. Character death, one-shot.


One-shot! My first fanfic, don't shoot me or come after me with a chainsaw please! Set somewhere randomly at the beginning of Part 2.

Disclaimer: Do I really need one? If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would go POOF! … No BOOM! Haha, make Deidara feel all special. (I've been thinking of Deidara a lot today… Must be the upcoming 4th.)

* * *

It was a simple mission. Infiltrate, capture the target, and get out as fast as humanly possible. But things didn't work out as planned, and now here they were, running for their lives from the enemy that outnumbered them three to one. The lazy chunnin leading the mission mentally cursed as they ran through the trees. His teammates weren't far behind. He looked back just as a kunai whizzed by, grazing his cheek before imbedding itself in a tree trunk. The enemy nin were gaining, and if he didn't think of something soon, his entire team would be dead.

He clenched his fists and his mind scrambled for ideas, but his options were limited. Most of his kunai and paper bombs were gone, all used in effective but short-lived delays to the enemy. Ino was tiring, and Chouji could do nothing more at the moment but run behind her, nudging her forward when she slowed. Their chakra levels were low, having previously fought another group of pursuers. They were in unfamiliar territory now, far beyond where he had scouted before the mission. _Idiot…_ He thought. The only possible solution now was to stand and fight, and pray that they were strong enough.

Shikamaru cursed, this time aloud, and slowed to a stop when the trees thinned out and the ground dropped away to a sheer, steep cliff. His teammates also stopped, gazing down. A fall from this height would most likely be fatal, but Shikamaru didn't want to be the one to figure it out. They all stepped back from the cliff's edge as the enemy came into view, all with triumphant looks as they spread out. They had the three outnumbered and surrounded, and they knew it.

The space between the cliff and the trees was roughly nine or ten meters; not much space to fight, but it was all they had. Shikamaru gave a nod to his teammates, and they all pulled out kunai and stood in a half circle, waiting for the attack. And that attack came moments later, three against one.

They all fought with the desperate need to stay alive, as any would in their situation. _Nine attackers, two allies, limited chakra, supplies and fighting space._ Shikamaru thought as he blocked a kunai. He forced the enemy to drop the weapon before stabbing him through the heart with his own. _Eight._ He thought as the man fell. He quickly glanced around before he was faced with two more attackers. Despite his weakened state, he took both down, suffering only a long gash down his left arm and a few cuts and bruises. He looked towards Chouji and Ino.

Chouji was fighting off two attackers at once, with the third sprawled lifeless at his feet. Shikamaru couldn't help but give a weak smile. Chouji had never been one to use taijutsu, but even so, he was doing rather well, with minor injuries, though he was limping slightly. Ino was, however, in a worse state. She was covered in cuts and stab wounds, and one arm hung limp at her side with a kunai lodged in her shoulder. She had only managed to wound her attackers, and two decided that the third could easily handle her and turned to attack Shikamaru. Soon those two also fell, and for a moment Shikamaru thought they would all get out alive, seeing as they were now down to two attackers. But that thought soon disappeared.

As his last attacker fell lifeless to the ground, Shikamaru saw Ino fly backwards with her chin wrenched upwards, while the enemy she had been fighting smirked as he brought his leg back down. Ino hit the ground hard and rolled a few feet before coming to a stop, lying on her back with her arm hanging limp over the cliff's edge. Shikamaru's eyes widened and he ran towards her, pulling out a kunai as the enemy nin broke into a run as well. The enemy reached her first and grabbed her by the throat, holding her over the edge while blocking Shikamaru's attack. He kicked Shikamaru back before throwing Ino down into the canyon.

"Ino!" Shikamaru yelled. The enemy nin was suddenly knocked over the edge as well as Chouji barreled into him, skidding to a stop before he tumbled down the rocky cliffside. Shikamaru looked around as he stood up. Eight bodies lay in heaps of dirt and blood. He stood shakily, weakened by both shock and the fight. He slowly walked up beside Chouji and they gazed down into the chasm. At the bottom, they could just make out the two broken bodies, one grey and dark and the other blond and purple.

Not long after, they found their way down to the bottom of the cliff and walked weakly along in search of their teammate. Their mission had failed miserably, they knew that. But what was worse, was that they had lost a close friend. And when they finally found her body, neck bent at an unnatural angle and blood pooling beneath her, Shikamaru sank to his knees, hot tears running down his face. The first time a team under his command had been in such a situation, they had been lucky enough to survive, despite his failure. Now, he had failed again, at Ino's expense.


End file.
